Message from Braden Mechley
Dear friends of Bruce:

What a glorious weekend it was for everyone who participated -- which must have been something like 150 alums in all, to say nothing of the 70 or so current students and numerous friends, family and colleagues involved. It was an unbelievable thrill for me personally to see so many people assembled for one purpose, and to have things run so incredibly smoothly.
 

FRIDAY 10/24

Click here to read Helga Perry's narrative of these events and here to view photos.
 

SATURDAY 10/25

An exhilarating day, full of amazing emotional highs (the excitement of seeing so many old friends and meeting so many new people) and lows (the sadness and nostalgia inevitable on this occasion).

To even my amazement, we stayed very much on schedule all day long -- thanks to the stunning coordination of Alex Zequeira '94 and his right-hand man, Shawn McKay '06, plus of course John Delorey and his team of officers. Set-up of the risers in the morning and the orchestra in the afternoon was achieved with incredible efficiency. And our "practice" procession of the singers onstage went remarkably smoothly.

For many of us the day's high point in a way came early, when all forces merged at 3:00 to run through the five items pretty much everybody sang: the Mozart, the Lessons & Carols pieces, the Cantique and the Songs of H.C. Amazingly little fine-tuning and repetition were necessary -- that's how focused everyone was, and how strong our memories of Bruce's teaching and training. And I know all involved will not soon forget the feeling when Bob Ouellette '90 first guided the combined current and alum Chamber Singers in our first run-through of "The Long Day Closes."

There was just enough "in between" time for people to get dinner and change clothes without too much strain. We assembled in Hogan 514 -- yes, everyone fit, somehow! -- for warm-up and last-minute fine-tuning under John Delorey's expert guidance. Shawn McKay led us in prayer (very aptly using the text of the Cantique), and at last it was Time.

Frank Caputo's beautiful photo montage ran just before the concert's official starting time of 8:00 p.m. The sequence of pictures was accompanied by a recording of Bruce's Choir singing the fourth movement of the Brahms REQUIEM (Mechanics Hall, 2002). Thus the mood was set, and it was maintained by the awesome sight of over 150 students, alums and friends mounting risers onstage and sets of risers on either side -- a beautiful, solemn procession.

After welcomes by Alex Zequeira (our evening's superb M.C.) and Father McFarland, we were honored to have a wonderful reflection from Father Brooks, which was every bit as delightful and touching as I'd hoped it would be when I first asked him to speak.

Then the music started: "Lacrimosa," "Cantique de Jean Racine," "The Morning Star" and "Lo, How a Rose" filled the ears of the hundreds of people who had come to hear them, all under John Delorey's able baton.

The Choir then withdrew from the stage, leaving only the current Chamber Singers, who remained onstage as Chris Torres '03 -- who had taken shore leave from the Navy to fly in for the occasion from California -- delivered his own deeply moving reflection. The Chamber Singers then sang Brahms' "Zum Schluss," accompanied by Aleksandr Kirillov '05 (Organ Scholar) and Jonathan Yasuda '05 (Brooks Scholar) and conducted by John Delorey. Then Bob Ouellette and dozens of other Chamber Singers alums then returned to the stage to perform "The Long Day Closes."

The stage was empty when George Ashur '79 offered the evening's final reflection -- as hilarious and heartfelt as you would imagine. Then came other special alumni offerings: Vaughan Williams' SERENADE TO MUSIC, performed by 16 alumni (many of them professional singers) and conducted by Tony Ashur '82, and then the duet Bruce and Helga Perry restored to H.M.S. PINAFORE, sung by Jonathan Mack '97 and Nicole (Bard) Lian '96 under the guidance of no less than Helga herself.

Frank Caputo's wonderful video tribute was the penultimate feature of the program. A half hour in length, it highlighted scenes from some of Bruce's favorite stage productions (PIRATES, SWEENEY, THE FANTASTICKS and CAROUSEL) as well as several of his Choir concerts and even some of his own solo appearances. I was glad for the chance it gave to recall Bruce's work -- and to allow the many singers to kick back and "enjoy the show" for a while rather than perform.

And then the massive Choir took the stage again for the Songs of Holy Cross, under George Ashur's baton. Ever faithful to Bruce's ways, we even gave an encore. And then it was time simply to enjoy the reception in the Ballroom Lobby. Afterwards, many continued to visit and socialize downstairs in the Pub.
 

SUNDAY 10/26

Many alums and friends also attended Mass on Sunday. It was particularly nice to see -- and hear -- so many alums in the Schola loft. Jim Christie chose two beautiful pieces for us to sing in addition to the regular hymns, acclamations, etc.: the Byrd motet "Justorum Animae" and Wyeth's "Unto the Hills I Lift Mine Eyes" (with flute solos beautifully played by Choir veteran Dan Dowling '04).
 

Thanks once more to everyone whose participation and contributions enriched this amazing weekend for us all. Please stay in touch, and continue to visit (and contribute to) bruceimiller.com . . .
 

All best,
B